The ruins we visited in the vicinity of the village, Um Ar ‘Rasas, are not actually biblical sites as they date from the Byzantine and Umayyad periods, the fifth to the eighth century AD. Before visiting the ruins of the Byzantine town, Kestron Mefaa, we stopped about one km away to see an usual tower; unusual in that the 15 meter tower is solid and has no internal stairs, though it appears to have had a room at the top of the tower with four windows, once facing each directions. Rough crosses are hewn into three sides of the tower, with finer carving at the top.

The peculiar architecture of this tower, Burj Sam’am in Arabic, seems to indicate that it is a Stylite tower of the fifth century, used by a Christian holy man.

During the pre-Constantine rule of the Roman Empire Christians were persecuted and many were martyred for their faith. Once Christianity became the official religion of the Empire and intense persecution ceased, a movement sometimes known as “white martyrdom” rose up, with holy men and monks demonstrating their piety by undertaking such ascetic feats as living atop pillars or towers. One of the most famous, Simon Stylites, a Syrian ascetic, lived atop a pillar in Aleppo, Syria for 37 years. Pilgrims came from miles around to visit this holy man and to listen to him preach God’s Word. After Simon Stylites became famous, other holy men began to imitate him, themselves living atop towers in order to pray and preach away from the distractions of the world. Our guide suggested that these Stylite towers may have even been the prototype for the Islamic muzzein, from which the call to prayer is given.

The scaffolding surrounding the tower is part of ongoing excavation and preservation work. Near the tower is the ruins of a church, cisterns, and a three-story building which may have been some sort of lodging quarters for visiting pilgrims.(more…)

Jabal Luwiebdeh’s reputation as a quiet and peaceful residential neighborhood in the old part of Amman was heavily contested Saturday afternoon, March 8th, as more than 1500 people, mostly children and youth, took to its streets to mark the second anniversary of Luweibdeh Spring Carnival.

The parade, led by a mounted patrol of six policemen, started at Paris Square and proceeded on in the main streets of the Jabal up to the NationalGalleryPark where it took a U-turn to end on the playgrounds of the TerraSanctaSchool. The participants walked to the beat of drums and bagpipes performed by the Mountain Lions’ Scout Troupe and the tunes of a four-member local French band. A third scout group from Ibn Rushd private school in Zarqa joined the procession while enthusiastically chanting and dancing all along the way.

From Machaerus we returned to the King’s Highway, once an ancient trade caravan route, and traveled south to the Khirbet Iskander site. Though the name “Khirbet Iskander” means the “ruins of Alexander” in reference to Alexander the Great who conquered the area in 323 BC, the site is actually the ruins of a fortified Early Bronze Canaanite city, the only one of it’s kind to be discovered and dating back to 2300 BC.

The Early Bronze Period, 3500-2000 BC and divided into four sub-periods, is so significant because this is the period in history when the first cities rose up in Mesopotamia and Egypt. It is also the period when writing was first discovered. The rise of urban centers influenced the rise of cities in the biblical lands of present day Jordan and Israel. This was the land of Canaan, peopled by the Canaanites. The Israelites didn’t come to the area until 1200 BC.

We didn’t actually go down to the site, where excavation is ongoing, but instead viewed it from the highway. Before leaving the area our leader revealed yet another hidden treasure: a Roman road milestone inscribed with the name of Nerva, Emperor of the Roman world from AD 96-98. Imagine, just lying in a ditch off the highway!

It is common knowledge in Jordan that family names equal power. Every day, thousands of Jordanians capitalize on that fact alone. Getting a traffic ticket is a hassle avoided, and so is waiting in line when it’s time to renew one’s passport. Acceptance into a competitive university program with limited seats is not an issue, and neither is the guaranteed job in prestigious public institutions such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or even the prestigious Royal Court. It’s not every name, nor is it even the more common names that come with assumptive qualities, so please excuse the generalization. However, there are certain family names in Jordan, which when coupled with inherited wealth and positions of power, can only emphasize the underlying point: names are important, and the impact of modern economics makes sure of that.

Several weeks ago, a teenager from an affluent family in Amman was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident. The story made national headlines, leading to a public demonstration and campaigns to make roads safer, with his mourning family at the helm. While his name became widely known around the country, most Jordanians may not remember the names of other people who have died in road-related deaths, which, according to recent statistics, amount to roughly two people every single day. Several days after the incident, over 20 people died in a roadside accident, yet, except for their families, most will have difficulty recalling a single victim’s name. Did the importance of this specific family, their name, their wealth, their connections, play a role in garnering the media and the public’s attention? If so, then one could argue that it was utilized in a fashion intended to do good. For if the wealthiest and most influential names in the country do not lead the charge for social awareness and policy changes, then who will?
On the other side of the city, another story unfolded recently, receiving very little media attention, if at all. According to witnesses, four young men who had been drinking late into the night at a local establishment instigated a fight with the manager over a missing coat. Intoxicated, they insisted that management find their coat immediately, boasting that they came from influential families, and worked within the country’s security apparatus. The heightened late-night conflict escalated to the point that one of them decided that the best way to retrieve the expensive coat was to shoot the manager four times, severely wounding him and leading to his hospitalization. While not a single word of this incident was printed in local papers, for obvious reasons, Amman is much too small of a city for anything of that sort to be hidden for very long. The story spread like wildfire in the western district, but without media attention it is highly doubtful the perpetrators were punished for the crime; their family names saw to that.
The power to use a family name for either good or evil is a contrast that is too dangerous in a country struggling to advance into the 21st century. We have all become accustomed to the wicked culture of wasta that helps many get away with unpaid parking tickets, while helping others get away with (attempted) murder.

The varying layers and degrees of wasta are personified by the social inequalities that reign supreme in our small Kingdom. Who you are, who you know and where you come from form the basis of an identity that dominates an unjust system. At the heart of the problem is, in fact, the lack of a just system that ensures all Jordanians are treated equally, and remain that way, despite what names they carry on their national ID cards.

However, politics aside, it is society that really dominates this culture of names at the end of the day. It is the people who remain infatuated with family names; be it their own or others’. They are no longer a mere and harmless source of pride and honor, but everyday weapons of survival. The power of economics has meant that some names have become diluted, falling as they have ill to the woes of poverty, while other names have become empowered with newfound wealth. Interestingly, this phenomenon sometimes takes place within the same big family. Although social inequalities will always exist, the culture of names can be changed if the people can rely on a justice system that is, in fact, more just. Until then, economics will remain supreme, allowing the wealthy and influential to consolidate enough power to get away with the worst of crimes.